


i’ll never let you go || barnroe

by now_itsjustthegas



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid
Genre: IM JUST LEAVING THIS UP COZ IT TOOK AGES TO WRITE, Multi, SO DONT ATTACK ME, YO BTW I DONT LIKE BARNROE ANYMORE, gary likes linda for a little but she doesn’t like him back, idek if imma make becky like her back at this point, kinda angsty, kinda slow burn, lindas a lesbian bcos i said so, there will be no further updates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:08:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24933508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/now_itsjustthegas/pseuds/now_itsjustthegas
Summary: btw i already posted this on wattpad i’m just reposting it here coz it’s easier to link and stuff, barnroe high school au, modern au, kinda angsty
Relationships: Barnroe, Linda Monroe/Becky Barnes
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

(a/n: imagine that in middle school linda had brown hair)

"linda!" a small ginger girl called across the corridor

"becky!" linda ran up to her friend and high fived her

"it's so cool that we ended up going to the same middle school!" becky giggled

"yeah, these next few years are gonna be great"

"do you think we'll have any classes together, lindsay?"

(a/n: lindsay can be beckys nickname for linda)

"yeah im sure we will"

*time skip*

linda flopped down on her bed after a long day at school and smiled to herself, she couldn't help but smile after seeing becky barnes that day.

she knew she liked becky, she knew she loved becky, but she didn't know if becky liked her.

"it was be so so nice if she liked me back..." linda thought

although, linda had never told anyone about her crush on a girl.

girls liking girls was unheard of

but becky was just so nice so she wouldn't hate linda over something like that...would she?

when she went to bed all the could think about was becky

becky barnes

becky her best friend

becky the popular girl

becky the kind hearted one

becky the pretty girl

"she's the prettiest girl in school, who wouldn't like her?" linda thought, reassuring herself that it was all okay. She tossed and turned for hours on end, trying to fall asleep but she just fell more in love with Becky. She's liked becky since they first started middle school, it was now March.

Linda would cherish every little moment the two of them shared. She remembered the time they had a picnic in Hatchetfield park, and the time they went to see a movie at the mall cineplex, all the times they passed notes in class. She turned more red just thinking about it.

She had to.

She just had to tell Becky how she felt.

Eventually Linda managed to drift into a dreamless sleep, as the stars shone in the night sky.

The next morning, she felt strange. She had a nervous feeling in her stomach, like she was going to be sick but she almost enjoyed the pain, the anticipation. She threw off her covers and reluctantly got out of bed, wiping the sleep out of her eyes. She put on her school uniform, buttoning up her white shirt and pulling on her red checkered skirt. Then slipping on her dark red jumper and her black blazer. 

(a/n: im sorry i just didn't wanna make the uniform boring yk)

While remembering what homework was due that day, she tied her just below shoulder length brown hair into a ponytail, with two strands of hair hanging at the side (a/n: let's pretend that linda's hair was brown in middle school). She packed her bag for the day and hurriedly grabbed a pop tart as she went out the door, munching on it as she walked along.

(a/n: i just wanna clarify that i'm from england so idk how the american school system works so like i have no idea how old people are in the first year of middle school so if someone could let me know hgddghjkk)

*time skip to when she's at school*

"Hi Becky" Linda smiled sweetly at her friend.

"Oh hey Lindsay" Becky replied.

Linda felt the nerves build up inside her, today was the day she would tell Becky how she felt. She was so understanding and kind that she wouldn't hate Linda over something like this, right?

"Oh and Linda.."

"Yeah"

"I have something important to tell youuuu" Becky was beaming at this point

"Y-yeah what is it?" Linda was really anxious, it felt like her heart was going to explode.

"You know the boy in our English class, Tom" Linda's face fell.

...this could mean...

"Yeah.."

"I have a crush on him"

...danger...

Becky started giggling and Linda joined in to hide her disappointment.

"Oh my god! Really!"

"Yeahhh, I don't think he likes me back tho.."

"I-I'm sure he does"

...i could be falling in love...

"What makes you say that?"

"Oh... I don't know, just got a feeling you know?"

...falling in love...

"Awh, thank you so much Lindsay"

"You're welcome"

...falling in love...

"You're one of the best friends i've ever had" Becky said

...with becky barnes...


	2. Chapter 2

~Linda POV~

tw: homophobic slurs (also i can write/say the words coz i'm gay so don't come at me for being homophobic coz i'm not)

Oh my god I am such a fucking idiot. Of course she likes some boy, of course she would never like me. Why do i like her, shouldn't i be liking a boy. A boy like Tom. I've liked boys before so why now do i like a girl?

(a/n: im trying to get through the middle school bit quickly coz it's just backstory and the main stuff happens in the high school and college sections of the story)

*time skip to the next day at school*

"Becky?"

"Yeah"

"Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure, lets go somewhere more private!"

They walked outside to the playground, it was in the morning and not everyone was there yet. They made their way over to a large tree that provided plenty of shade from the sun, no one else was over there. It was just those Linda and Becky.

"So, you promise we'll always be friends no matter what right?" Linda asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yeah of course, even if you'd killed someone I'd probably help you hide the body" Becky said playfully.

"Becky...um...recently i've realised something and thought that...you know it would be good to tell you since you're my best friend and everything so the thing is..." she couldn't say it, she wanted to but her voice wouldn't say it. She tried to speak but no words came out, a tear fell down her cheek.

"J-just forget it..." Linda mumbled as she turned away.

"No! Lindsay!" Linda turned back around and looked at Becky.

"It doesn't matter Becks"

"It does."

"okay so... I-I'm.."

i wish i could take it all back

turn back time and fix this

but obviously i had to go and fuck things up

"I'm bi"

"B-bi? This has to be a joke" Becky laughed slightly

"Um...nope, i-it's true.."

"Ew"

that moment would haunt me for years

"Ew"

"what?"

"That's really not normal"

"But i thought-"

"Oh you thought wrong, why the hell would you decide to be a fucking fag"

Tears started to stream down Linda's face.

"I'm so sorry! It's not my fault"

"You're diseased, Linda, you need help"

Linda just sobbed and hid her face with her hands.

"I don't think we should be friends anymore" Becky said monotonously.

"okay..." Linda sniffled "Just...please don't tell anyone"

"I'm not that much of a bad person...

"not that much of a bad person"

oh bitch pleaseee

honestly i couldn't think of anyone worse..

except for me...ha...

...but you need to get help for this"

"I will."

Then she ran. As fast as her legs would let her, all the way to the humanities block bathrooms. No one ever went there, her lungs ached and stung but she kept running. All she could hear were her gasps for air and her footsteps on the ground. When she finally made it into the bathroom she entered a cubicle and slammed the door, then locked it. She slowly sat down on the toilet lid and then sobbed. She sobbed hysterically until there was no tears left. She sobbed but silently, you could just hear small frantic breaths and sniffs every now and again.

"How the hell can I fix this..? How can i make myself normal again?" she whispered to herself. Suddenly she hears the bell for first period.

"oh maths can go fuck itself, i'll go to second lesson"

~Becky POV~

Oh my fucking god.

I can't believe that my former best friend is one of them. That's actually fucking repulsive, but honestly she needs to sort that out and become normal again. Why would someone want to be that? Ew

~No one POV~

The first lesson bell rings and Becky makes her way to maths, but Linda is still in the toilets, heartbroken.

(a/n: im sorry this chapters a bit short but like the middle school bit is just backstory and all the main stuff happens in the high school and uni but so yh)


	3. Chapter 3

25.3.20

(a/n: just for my own reference, middle school is year 7 to year 9 and high school is year 10 to year 13)

*its now the first day before high school*

"oh fuck this" Linda said as she read the box of hair dye, it saying to keep it on for an hour (a/n: i don't know how real hair dye works so this is just a guess). She sat down on her bed with the dye in her hair and took out her phone, checking instagram.

beckybarnes.x posted a photo

liked by tomhouston_, janeperkinsxx and 92 others

beckybarnes.x First day of high school tomorrow! Can't wait to make new friends at my new school :)

"oh christ in heaven.." Linda thought "Of course Becky Barnes is being cheesy as hell, again"

"Tomorrow is my opportunity to start fresh and throw away the old me" Linda thought "Already cleared my instagram, i don't want anyone to see the little rat that i used to be in middle school, good thing i got a haircut 'cause i don't want anyone to look at me and be reminded of who i was"

*time skip to when the hair dye was done and she'd washed it out and dried her hair*

Linda combed out her new hair and looked in the mirror, she smiled at herself. She actually liked how it looked. After a few moments of admiring herself in the mirror she took out her makeup bag, she did a natural makeup look then took out her phone and swiped onto the camera. She tried out different poses until she found one that she liked and then took a picture. Well actually, she took many pictures because every time she took one she could always find something wrong with it. Eventually she took one that she didn't entirely hate.

(a/n: ok so i just realised that linda only has the last name monroe because of her husband so i made up her maiden name but if anyone has some better suggestions for her maiden name i can change it)

lindakingsley.x posted a photo

lindakingsley.x first day of high school tomorrow, wish me luck🖤✨

Soon enough the notifications begin flooding in.

mary.xx liked your photo

emma.perkins liked your photo

tomhouston_ liked your photo

janeperkinsxx liked your photo

ted_richards liked your photo

(a/n: okay so in this story emma is only 2 years younger than jane so we're assuming that the people in tgwdlm that work with paul and stuff are the same age as emma and that the black friday people like becky and tom and linda are the same age as jane)

"ha, i dont even know half these people" linda laughed to herself

beckybarnes.x liked your photo

"is this some sort of a joke?" Linda thought

beckybarnes.x commented on your post

Linda's heart skipped a beat for a second, her and Becky weren't really friends. But they definitely weren't strangers. They were just kind of acquaintances. Linda hesitantly clicked on the notification.

beckybarnes.x Wow Linda! You've really changed, in a good way! :) x

Linda smiled to herself and liked the comment, it was good to know that Becky didn't entirely hate her after the incident in middle school. Becky had assumed that Linda was now straight (since she'd had multiple boyfriends) and nothing about the incident had been mentioned since it happened. But little did Becky know that Linda went to a dark place because of the incident and struggled so much to repress her feelings, and she still is trying to repress her feelings.

(trigger warning: self harm)

Linda constantly tried to repress and deny her feelings for girls, her feelings for Becky especially. For now she had convinced herself she was straight and that she was just confused and wrong in middle school.

Because of her constant struggling with her sexuality in middle school, Linda had used some fucked up things to cope. She used a compass at first (in 6th grade (year 7)), she would scratch up her hips and stomach until they bled. Then she started using scissors and by 8th grade (year 9) she would use knives. She enjoyed the pain of it slicing smoothly across her skin. Seeing the blood drip down her skin was like a drug to her. Even now she still would hurt herself when things got really bad or stressful.

She'd never been caught though, only she knew about the scars that were scattered across her stomach and the words she'd carved into her hips.

(a/n: im going to stop this chapter here so people who wanted to skip the bit where i talk about self harm won't miss too much of the actual storyline)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw this was made before i knew time skips were kind of a lazy thing to do in writing   
> the recent chapters have no time skips fghjk

trigger warning: a few things that are said could be triggering for people with eating disorders

Linda woke up, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, and got out of bed. She walked over to her wardrobe and pulled out her school uniform.

"It's so fucking uglyyy" she muttered to herself. She took off her silk pyjamas and put on her white button up shirt, adjusting she cuffs slightly afterwards. She put on her green checkered skirt (making sure to roll it up so it would be shorter), she admired herself in the mirror for a second. She pulled on her white thigh-high socks and black school shoes, tying the laces tightly. She quickly checked the time.

"6:50...I have plenty of time" she thought. She brushed her hair until it was silky and smooth, parting it down the middle and then leaving it down. She made sure to do her makeup, she had to look perfect on the first day. She pulled on her black blazer, it had the school logo on the left breast pocket (Hatchetfield High). She brushed her teeth then walked out the door, without even thinking about having breakfast.

"Good. I managed to skip breakfast again...it's not like my parents care anyways" she muttered to herself while walking down the street to get to the bus stop. She shivered slightly, she almost regretted having her skirt as short as she did but beauty is pain. Her backpack was over she shoulder as she made her way to the bus stop, soon enough, her bus to school arrived.

*t i m e s k i p*

She got off the bus and walked the short way to her school, it was nearly 8am (7:57 to be exact). As she entered the school, she was anxious, although not many people were there yet since you didn't have to be in school until 8:30. Linda stopped by a row of lockers and quickly got her planner and checked the map. She looked at the map, attempting to locate where her classroom is. Eventually she found it. She put her planner away then attempted to navigate the halls to find her classroom and after a few minutes she was there. She entered the classroom.

"Oh hi Linda!"

hfdddghjkl it's fucking becky barnes oh shitttt

"Oh hey Becky" Linda replied, she made sure to seem kind of bitchy, just so no one would mess with her.

"You look nice Linda" Becky continued.

"Oh thank you" Linda blushed slightly, she didn't understand why she was getting all nervous because of Becky.

"Oh and Linda, this is my boyfriend Tom, we started dating during the summer"

"Oh hey Tom, we went to the same middle school with Becky right?" Linda replied

"Yeah, you've changed a lot since middle school" Tom said

"Yeahhhh, in middle school I was an absolute idiot" Linda laughed, she others laughed with her.

"It's really nice that we've all ended up in the same high school, it's kind of sad that we drifted in middle school Linda, I don't really know why we stopped talking" Becky giggled slightly at the end.

"Yeah, I don't know either" Linda replied.

Except she did know, she memories came flooding back. The sobbing in the bathroom and bunking maths, what Becky said on that day would haunt her forever.

"We should be friends again Linda" Becky suggested

"Yeah, sure"

"Great!" Becky smiled "Me, you and Tom can hang out at lunchtime if you want"

"Yeah, I might try to meet some other people though, so I have lots of friends, you know" Linda replied

"Yeah that's good, having lots of friends is always the best option"

"Yeah"

Suddenly the bell for first lesson went.

*time skip to breaktime*

(a/n: sorry im using time skips a lot)

Linda made her way to her locker, the put in her combination and opened it and began to put some of her books in. A taller boy with brown hair and glasses walked up to the locker to the left of Linda.

"Hey, um, is it your first day here as well?" he spoke

"Yep, I'm Linda" she put out her hand for him to shake.

"I'm Gary" he shook her hand "sorry" he laughed nervously "No one from my middle school came here so I don't know anyone"

"That's fine, you can hang with me" Linda smiled, although she wanted to be the feared bitchy popular girl, this boy seemed nice and honestly you don't find many nice people in a high school.

"What class have you got next?" Linda asked him.

"Ummm" he fumbled around in his locker and pulled out a timetable, he looked over it. "Biology"

"So do I" Linda smiled at him, although he's clumsy and kind of awkward, he seemed nice "We can go together" Linda continued, Gary smiled at the ground and blushed. It was very obvious that he liked Linda. The bell for their third lesson went and they made their way to biology. After two long hours of lessons, it was finally lunchtime. Linda decided to keep her word and hang out with Tom and Becky, she wanted to fix things after they got all fucked up in middle school. She went to her locker and made sure she had the books for her last lesson then she made her way to the cafeteria and looked around for Becky. After a minute or so of searching, she saw Becky's ginger hair through the crowds, she made her way over to the table they were at.

"Hey" Linda said, smiling.

"Oh hey Linda! Come sit down with us" Becky said gesturing to the empty chair at the table. Linda complied.

"So guysss, hows your classes been so far?" Becky was so bubbly, Linda always liked that about her (she could be always see the positive side to things) and that was probably why Tom liked her so much.

"Shit" Tom and Linda said simultaneously.

"Language!" Becky said jokingly.

Tom and Linda were surprisingly similar in some ways, they both had a pretty negative outlook on life and although their interests differed a lot, their personalities weren't that different.


	5. Chapter 5

26.6.20

(a/n: sorryy guyssss i haven't updated in a while *cough cough two months cough cough* but like school work and shit yk)

After her final class, Linda made her way to her locker, encountering Gary again. He was awkwardly trying to clean his glasses with the bottom of his jumper when Linda arrived.

"Oh uh, hi Linda" he smiled a kind of goofy smile, you could see his braces with blue bands on. It was kind of funny how Gary was the literally nerd/geek stereotype but he was bound to be one of those guys who got an amazing job when they were older since he's so smart.

"Hi Gary...how was last period?" she replied, putting her key into the lock on her locker and turning it to unlock it.

"Well, business studies isn't the most fun subject..uh..what about you?" he questioned, closing his locker.

"I had psychology, it's sooo boring, I wish I could drop it but it's too late now I guess" she laughed slightly.

"You made any other friends?"

"Well Becky Barnes and Tom Houston went to the same middle school as me, and we talked at lunch, that's it" she stopped for a second, thinking about Becky, her laugh, the way she talks, her hair, her everything.

"Do you have a crush on Tom or something?"

Linda stood in shocked silence for a moment, that was such a random question that she was nOt prepared for.

"Uh...um...y-yes, yeah i do" she mentally shouted at herself for saying that, it's not even true, but at least people will think she's straight "don't tell anyone though"

"Oh..." Gary's face fell "he seems nice...and yeah of course I won't tell anyone"

"Thanks Gary, uh you're the best" she awkwardly did finger guns at him before cringing at herself in her mind, she then closed her locker, picked up her back and awkwardly walked away.

"Great, I just told an outrageous lie to my only proper friend at this school" the muttered to herself quietly as she speedwalked down the hall, exiting the school and trekking to the bus stop. Eventually, she got there, still replaying her conversation with Gary in her head and cringing more and more with every word that she said. She sat down to wait for the bus, she still had ten minutes until it got there.

"Oh hey Linda"

She jolted around to see Tom.

"Hi Tom" for some reason she just didn't like him, Becky deserves better than some dumbass who dresses like a 40 year old lumberjack.

"You take the 288?"

"Uh yeah" she said, still not being friendly with him.

"That's awesome, so do I!"

Linda was not pleased about taking the same bus home as Tom Houston.

"That's good, at least I won't be alone on the bus" the conversation seemed so awkward for Linda but Tom was acting like he didn't even realise. After a few minutes of Linda desperately trying to end the conversation and Tom continuing it, the bus arrived and Linda got on, putting in her earphones as soon as she sat down. If Tom tried to talk to her on the bus, she didn't hear it, she was too busy zoning out. Not even gonna lie she was thinking about Becky. After about ten minutes the bus came to a halt, she checked it was her stop, got off as quickly as she could. She took the shortcut through the alleyway, she took the same shortcut in middle school since the high school and middle school were close by. Then she heard footsteps just as she exited.

⚠️TW: SEXUAL HARRASSMENT⚠️

⚠️I'll put a short summary at the end so you don't have to read it if you would be triggered by that⚠️

"Hey there" he said to her, leaning against the wall to stop her from getting past. She took out her earphones.

"Okay fuck off I'm not interested" she once again tried to get past.

"Come on, be nice, what did I ever do to you?"

She stayed silent.

"You single?"

"No, I have a boyfriend" she lied. That day was just a never ending web of lies.

"Baby, he won't find out"

"Don't call me that you disgusting pervert"

"How rude of me...I haven't even introduced myself...the names Sam"

"Well, Sam, I'm not interested, I just want to go home"

"You wanna go back to your place huh?" He grabbed her waist. A tear fell down her face, she was petrified.

"I won't hurt you, baby, unless you're into that"

"LEAVE ME ALONE"

"Don't you trust me?" He grabbed her wrist, she went to scream but he covered her mouth, muffling her cry for help.

"Sam, what the hell are you doing?!"

Linda turned around but couldn't quite make out who it was at first since her eyes were blurred with tears.

"Oh fuck off nerd"

"This isn't funny, get off her!"

She heard a thud, then suddenly her wrist was pulled in the opposite direction. She wiped her eyes and saw Gary.

"Gary?" she looked at him before quickly looking behind her to see that Sam had given up. Gary pretty much dragged her along the sidewalk to get as far away from Sam as possible.

"Gary, calm down, he's gone now"

"Okay...sorry"

"Why are you sorry?"

"I don't know, I just feel like...you think it's weird that I-"

"Gary, you just saved me from that pervy bastard, thank you"

"You're welcome, so uh...do you want me to maybe walk you home?"

"It would be my pleasure" Linda said in a joking posh voice (although her voice is quite posh as it is)

⚠️summary: that motherfucker sam was being pervy to linda then gary saved her⚠️

(a/n: i like to think that gary and linda were absolute friendship goals in high school, but gary kinda liked her at one point but it was unrequited (sorry goldroe shippers))


	6. Chapter 6

*this chapter takes place one month after the previous chapter*  
“Linda” Gary started.  
“Oh hey Gary” Linda wasn’t really paying attention, she was scrolling on her phone.  
“Uh...” he mumbled, Linda looked up at him (he was quite a bit taller than her).  
“Are you okay?” she questioned.  
“Yep, ahah, completely fine, nothing to worry about” he smiled awkwardly and gave a thumbs up.  
“Yeah, you’re definitely not okay” she looked up and down the corridor quickly to ensure no one was listening in on their conversation “what’s wrong?”  
“Ummmm”  
“Gary, you can tell me”  
“I, uh, I like someone”  
“Oooooh” Linda laughed “...wait why is that a problem?”  
“Because...she like wouldn’t like me”  
“Noooo, I’m sure she would....unless she doesn’t like boys, does she like boys?”  
“Yeah, but she likes another boy, who is not me”  
“Oh shit, do you think she would like hate you if you told her?”  
“Yes, no... maybe, I don’t know”  
“Well, if you think she won’t hate you forever, maybe say something because like, she might like you, if she doesn’t then it should be easier to get over her if you’re horribly rejected, sorry, I’m sure you won’t be horribly rejected, now I’m just rambling, sorry”  
“Don’t apologise, it’s-it’s fine”  
“Okay, I hope it goes well for you”  
“Yeah” he laughed awkwardly “I hope so too”  
The bell for their last lesson rang.  
“Good luck, I’ll see you after school”  
Gary and Linda would always walk together after school, mainly because Linda couldn’t bear to take the bus with Tom, and Gary wanted to make sure nothing bad happened to her when she was walking. Linda thought he was just overthinking but she appreciated the company.  
“See ya” then he went off to class.  
Linda walked along the halls to Maths, there were only a few classes she had that Gary wasn’t in and this was one of them. Becky was in her maths class which made her happy but at the same time extremely pissed her off. At least it wasn’t with Tom, which would be awkward for a number of reasons (he’s dating her kind of ex-best friend, the fact Gary still thinks she likes him and that she literally hates his guts). She entered the class and immediately took her seat.  
“Hi Linda” Becky said, bubbly as usual.  
“Oh hey Beck-“ Linda saw that Becky was wearing her cheerleader outfit “Oh, I uh, I didn’t know you got into the cheerleading squad”  
Linda tore her eyes away from Becky and got back to taking her school equipment out of her bag.  
“Yeah! Tom’s on the football team as well so I can cheer him on!” Becky giggled.  
“Yeah, that’s great, you’re like high school sweethearts” Linda replied, still looking awkwardly at the desk in front of her, but Becky was too happy to notice or care.  
After about thirty seconds, the teacher arrived and began to teach the lesson, every now and then she would sneak glances at Becky, she couldn’t help but admire how she looked in her cheerleader outfit. Her hair in a tight high ponytail, the way the shirt tightly hugged her frame, the short skirt that showed of her thighs-  
“No, Linda” she thought “You’re just jealous of her, you wish you were like her”  
“Linda, you okay?” Becky pulled Linda out of her thoughts.  
“Uhh, yep, sorry, this class is just boring”  
“Yeah, but you still need to work hard”  
“Well that’s easy for you to say, you’re good at it”  
“Are you struggling?”  
“Um yes” she stuttered our quickly, lying again.  
“I can help you if you want, maybe we can be like study buddies” Becky smiled.  
“Yeah sure that would be nice”  
“When are you free?”  
“After school Monday’s and um Wednesdays”  
“We can maybe meet at my place to study” Becky was stilling smiling  
“Uh, yeah, that would be great”  
“Yeah, it’ll be good to have someone to study with, we can improve together”  
“Christ, how are you so positive?” Linda laughed slightly  
“I just feel like having this positive outlook will make my life happier overall”  
“Yeah...” Linda just zoned out after that, she couldn’t remember anything that happened in the rest of that lesson. All she could think about was the fact she was going to be studying with Becky Barnes after school tomorrow.  
After her final lesson, she returned to her locker once again to meet Gary.  
“We still meeting at yours after school” Linda asked. Although Gary would usually walk Linda home, if they actually wanted to hang out they would go to Gary’s since Linda’s family situation wasn’t the best. She did tell Gary this and he understood, “it’s completely fine, don’t worry about it” he would tell her.  
“Yeah” Gary responded, his heart beating out of his chest. He nervously wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans and awkwardly waited for Linda. After she gathered her stuff, they began their walk home, the walk was nothing out of the ordinary but Linda could tell Gary was anxious. She tried to dismiss it and didn’t say anything until they were nearly at his house.  
“Gary, are you okay?” she questioned, concerned.  
“Yes...I’m okay” he didn’t look at her, just kept looking straight ahead.  
“What’s wrong? I can tell something’s bugging you”  
“It’s okay, Linda, it’s just like a stupid thing”  
“Gary-“  
“Linda, please”  
“Fine, I’ll leave it alone”  
After a little while they got to Gary’s, his parents greeted Linda as if she were their own child even though Gary and her had only been friends for a month, they were very close. They went up to his room, originally planning to help each other with the biology, Mr Hidgens would probably give them detention if they had another late homework.  
(a/n: isn’t hidgens like 60 so he would be like 30 years older than linda and gary so technically he could have been their high school teacher although ik he wasn’t)  
So they had to figure it out themselves, Gary was smart tho so they were good.   
“Gary, I don’t understand this bullshit”  
“Mr Hidgens is a good teacher but you don’t pay attention”  
“It’s difficult though... what’s 3a”  
“The left ventricle, and 3b is the aorta”  
“Thanks Gary, you’re a lifesaver”  
“Linda”  
“Uh, yeah?”  
“So you know the girl I like?”  
“Not personally but yeah”  
There was a silence.  
“Gary, is it... am I..?” Linda began  
“Okay I totally understand if you never want to speak to me again-“  
“Gary...uh...I’m sorry but I don’t like you....like that...but uh we can still be friends”  
“Sorry”  
“Don’t be...uh” tears welled up in her eyes  
“No no no, don’t cry, did I do something?”  
“Gary I” she exhaled to try and compose herself “I don’t think I like...boys...”  
She burst into tears, clinging to Gary, probably creating a wet patch on his jumper with her tears, but he didn’t mind.  
“Well Linda I accept you, it was really brave of you tell me and I’m glad you did”  
“Wait what?” she wiped her tears from her face with her sleeve, her eyes red and puffy.  
“It’s okay if you don’t like boys, it’s okay if you like girls, it’s okay if you like neither, or you like people inbetween”  
“Okay I lowkey thought you were gonna hate me forever and never talk to me again”  
“That’s how I felt before I told you, the uh, thing, I’m sorry, I’ll get over you probs like uh really soon now that I know...”  
“Gary, don’t worry about it”  
“Wait, didn’t you like Tom?”  
“Oh that was a horrific lie, I hate that motherfucker”  
“Wow, why did you tell me you did then?”  
“I was scared, that like, if I didn’t like a boy there would be...rumours”  
“But you only told me...”  
“I don’t know, even I don’t understand my own brain sometimes...wow, I feel a lot better now”  
“Sorry for asking but like, are you gay? ace? aro? All you said was you don’t boys and that could mean a bunch of stuff”  
“I’m not sure, I think that I might like...a girl, but I don’t know...I think I need time to figure it out...sorry I told you when I don’t even know-“  
“It’s okay, you can always talk to me, especially since...I’m not sure I’m entirely straight either...”  
“Oh...cool, thanks for telling me, sorry I don’t know how to respond to this shit”  
“I don’t really know what I am either, I know I like girls, I also uh...like boys, idk about people inbetween, you know”  
“Have you ever liked a boy before?”  
“Yeah”  
“Cool”  
“Cool”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is like a direct continuation from the last chapter, also i headcanon miahs name as jeremiah

“Do you like, like a boy now?” Linda asked, breaking the awkward silence.  
“Uh, well, there’s this one boy I think is...” Gary laughed “...cute”  
“Ooooo who” Linda laughed with him.  
“Well, you know, Jeremiah in my history class”  
“Kind of...wait isn’t he the fucking nutcase that always speed walks and literally has coffee running through this veins”  
“Yep...that’s the one”  
“He’s an absolute dickhead, you know that, right?”  
“Yeah...I wouldn’t ever like try and talk to him, I don’t even know if he’s, you know, into boys”  
“No one at our school is out so R.I.P to us, I guess”  
“Yeah”  
“Sorry, I kinda fucked today up, we were just doing our hw and I just, you know, dumped all my problems on you, sorry”  
“No no no Linda, I fucked it up, and I don’t think lowkey coming out is dumping your problems on me”  
“I’m still sorry, also like I don’t want to be...you know...”  
“Gay?”  
“Yeah...”  
“Why?”  
“Because it’s like, everything would be so much easier if I was straight”  
“Linda” he put his hand on hers to comfort her “It’s...it’s okay, you like don’t have to change, you know? And, you don’t actually know yet, don’t stress until you know, and even when you do know you don’t need to stress because...it’s fine Linda, it’s fine”  
“Thank you, Gary”  
———  
The next day, Linda regretted everything she told Gary. Although he told her it was okay and she had nothing to worry about, she couldn’t help but hate the fact she could potentially be gay. She tried to ignore it for now.  
“Hey Linda” Gary said, pulling her out of her thought.  
“Oh- um- hi Gary”  
“You okay?”  
“Yeah um... please forget what I said yesterday, I wasn’t thinking properly, just forget I said anything...”  
“oh okay...”  
“But like, I still accept you, I just am...”  
“Confused”  
“Yeah...sorry”  
“Don’t worry, it’s okay”  
“Okay...”  
———  
After many hours of classes, it was the end of the day. Linda was going to be studying with Becky. At Becky’s house. Linda was nervous, really nervous, she had no idea why though.   
“You just want to make a good impression after the...incident in middle school” she thought   
“You just want to be like her so you don’t want to seem like an idiot around her”  
“You’re just jealous of her, that’s it”  
She kept coming up with more and more reasons in her head. Although deep down she knew none were true.  
“Hi Linda!” Linda was pulled out of her thoughts as Becky greeted her, bubbly as usual.  
“Hi Becky” Linda replied, slightly awkwardly.  
“You okay? You’ve just seemed a bit...off today?”  
“Oh....I’m fine, I’m fine, just some things at home...uh, nothing to worry about though! I’m good”  
“Oh okay, you can talk to me about anything, you know”  
“Yeah, thank you” Linda replied, what Becky had said reminded her of middle school. The things Becky said. Linda didn’t think she’d ever be able to forget them.  
———  
Every time they would study, it was the highlight of Linda’s week. She just couldn’t wait to see Becky, every Wednesday after school. It should have been obvious that Linda was slowly falling for Becky since the first maths lesson, when Becky offered to help her study. Linda denied it for so long, she denied it until nearly halfway through their sophomore year. Then she realised.  
“Oh God...” she thought, she was sat in her bedroom, alone. Her parents had to visit her aunt upstate so she had the house to herself. “No...you can’t be...you just- just- haven’t been with a boy so you don’t know...yeah, just try it you’ll be fine”  
———  
Linda quickly dialled Gary’s number, he picked up almost immediately.  
“Hey Linda, you okay?”  
“Gary can you come over?”  
“What? I didn’t hear you, it cut out”  
“Can you come over?”  
“Yeah sure, why?”  
“I’ll explain later..”  
“Okay...I’ll be there soon”  
“Thank you, Gary”  
“It’s no problem, really”  
“Okay, see you”  
“See you, bye”  
“Bye” Linda barely even said the last word, it was just a breathe, Gary probably didn’t even hear her.  
———  
Linda jumped slightly when she heard the knock at her door, she immediately got up to get it. She opened the door to see Gary, she tackled him into a hug as soon as she could. He hugged her back.  
“What’s wrong?” He asked  
“Nothing”  
“Sure?”  
“...yes”  
“Okay”  
Gary could tell something was wrong but he wasn’t going to pry into it, he knew Linda would tell him when she was ready. She then pushed herself away from him.  
“Are your parents here?”  
“Um, no...they’ve had to go visit a relative”  
“Okay...”  
“Sorry, I just was like kinda lonely coz my parents are away and-“  
“Linda you don’t need to apologise for asking me to hang out” Gary smiled “That’s what friends are for”  
“Thank you, you wanna sit down?”  
“Yeah sure” he sat down on the couch  
“You want a coffee?”  
“Yeah sure”  
“I know you want a-“  
Then they both recited it at the same time “normal coffee just with milk and a sugar”  
They laughed at the fact they‘d known each other so long they just knew how the other person liked their coffee. Linda sat down next to Gary on the sofa and passed him his coffee before taking a small sip of her own. Deep down, she didn’t want to kiss a boy but she felt she had to, and Gary was literally her only male friend. She was so desperate to be “normal” that she was almost willing to sacrifice her perfect friendship.  
“Gary”  
“Yeah” he turned to look at her, she stayed silent. She was almost paralysed because of her nerves, just staring at him like deer in headlights. “Linda, are you okay?”  
“Kiss me”  
“I’m sorry, what?”  
“Kiss me, Gary”  
“Why? I thought you were-“  
“No”  
She went to kiss him but he stopped her.  
“What are you doing?”  
“Please”  
“It doesn’t mean anything?”  
“No, it doesn’t”  
“Fine”  
She kissed him, he was fine with it. If we’re being honest, both of them are horrendously touch starved and have never kissed anyone. Gary just needed some sort of attention from someone, too bad that the attention he got was from Linda’s twisted plan to force away her feelings. He went to cup her face but she shied away, like physically cringed. He pulled away immediately.  
“Linda, you don’t like it do you?”  
“No, I- it’s just like- um- the first time I’ve kissed someone so uh-“  
“Oh, same though”  
“Oh...”  
They went to kiss again, it was awkward since neither of them actually knew what to do. Linda eventually leaned in to continue but Gary could still sense the little things that were off. He tried to ignore it but then he just couldn’t pretend anymore. The heard her sob. Well, he thought he did, he heard a noise of pure pain that sounded like a heart-wrenching sob. He broke the kiss immediately and pulled her into a hug.  
“Oh my god, Linda, what’s wrong?”  
She sobbed into his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him. She couldn’t speak for a while, all she could do was let out her tears, loud ugly crying. Gary almost started crying as well, just by hearing the absolute pain that had taken over his best friend.   
“I’m sorry, Linda, was it me? Did I do something?”  
She just shook her head.  
“Okay” his voice was quieter now, he was just holding Linda, to protect her from whatever horrendous pain the world had given her.  
“I-I’m sorry” her quiet voice shook as she tried to calm down from crying.  
“Why are you sorry?” Gary was quiet as well, he felt that would make her feel better somehow.  
“This”  
“No no no, don’t be sorry...but, if you’re okay to answer this, why are you upset?”  
She stayed silent, her breathing heavy as she tried not to let her worries and nerves take over.  
“I think I’m a... you know”  
“Huh?”  
“Likes girls...just girls”  
“Oh, so then why did you...why did you want to...”  
“‘Cause I...I don’t want to...like girls, that is”  
“Oh, I-“  
“I’m sorry” she began to cry again.  
“Linda please stop apologising, you have nothing to be sorry for”  
“I just feel really bad that I lied to you like that”  
“Linda, it’s okay, just like don’t do it again” he laughed slightly, she laughed a little as well “Was that actually your first kiss though”  
“Yeah...”  
“Oh”  
“What? Was it that bad?”  
“No, I just feel really bad now that it was with me-“  
“Come on, you’re a nice guy”  
“That’s what girls say before they horribly reject someone”  
“I think the fact I’m..” she paused “not straight is rejection enough”  
“I’m over you anyway, I just wanted... something, you know”  
“Yeah”  
“No ones ever wanted to like...kiss me before so when you asked I just...I didn’t care who it was...I just needed something, you know”  
“I understand”  
“I’m so lonely”  
Linda laughed “Same, wait, what about that guy you like?”  
“Jeremiah?”  
“Yeah”  
“What about him?”  
“Ask him out”  
“Are you insane?”  
“Maybe” she laughed   
“I can’t ask him out, he’s probably straight”  
“He walks too fast to be straight”  
“You can’t use stereotypes to prove anything”  
“Has he ever had a girlfriend?”  
“Not that I know of, but that doesn’t mean-“  
“At least talk to him”  
“Come on Gary, I’m like your only friend at this school”  
“My cousin paul is probs coming here next year”  
“Firstly, that’s next year, secondly, don’t you hate him”  
“He’s annoying”  
“Just talk to Jeremiah”  
Gary just shook his head.  
“Do you want me to talk to him?”  
“And say what? “Hi my friend has a crush on you, are you by any chance gay and into complete nerds?””  
“No of course not, just like, he might mention if he’s gay, or I could somehow get him to talk to you”  
“Linda, okay, fine, but please don’t make me look like an idiot”  
“Deal”   
He smiled at Linda and pulled her into a hug again. “It’s all gonna be okay, I promise”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i highkey got carried away with linda and gary’s friendship and also the thing with gary and jeremiah in this chapter but i promise the next chapter will focus mainly on linda and becky

Gary ended up staying at hers that night, Linda needed someone there for her. They didn’t really plan on pulling an all nighter but ended up doing it anyway.  
———  
12:54am  
“Oh my god! Gary!”  
“What?”  
“You...should dm...Jeremiah-“  
“No!”  
“Yes!”  
“No!”  
“Yes!”  
“Why?”  
“Because-”  
“Linda it’s late”  
“He’s awake”  
“What? How do you know?”  
“He’s in my english class, sooo I got his number from the english group chat and I can see that he’s online” Linda smiled smugly at Gary, if were being honest, Linda almost feels sorry for how lonely Gary is although she’s only slightly less lonely.   
“What would I even say?”  
“Maybe...um...something like “hey, you’re in my history class, right? you seem cool, do you wanna chat?””  
“That’s so obvious”  
“What? That you like him?”  
“Yes”  
“Is it?”  
“Yessss”  
“Maybe just be like “hey, you’re in my history class right?” then after he replies just say he seems cool and that you want to get to know him”  
“Fine, but only because you’re peer pressuring me” Gary pretended to be dramatic, Linda just laughed.

gary.goldstein: hey, you’re in my history class right?

“Linda oh fuck oh fuck” Gary began to panic after he hit send.  
“That’s what she said”  
“Oh my god shush!”  
“It’s fine just calm dow-“  
“He’s seen it!” Gary practically squealed “No no no, fuck that, I’m changing my name and moving to Europe, it was nice knowing you, Linda”  
Linda picked up Gary’s phone to see the reply. “Gary, just look at the message”

j.eremiah_: hey, yeah i’m in your history  
j.eremiah_: if you need help with homework, i haven’t done it lmao

Gary took his phone off of Linda, reading the message.   
“Okay it’s not that bad” he said  
“Well reply then!”  
“Saying what?”  
“That you want to...get to know him” Linda smirked  
“Oh shush”

gary.goldstein: no i’ve done the homework  
gary.goldstein: i just thought you seemed cool and wanted to get to know you coz i don’t have many friends in the history class

“I kind of regret this already” Gary mumbled to himself  
“This is good, you’re socialising...but promise that you don’t ditch me when you and him start dating”  
“Linda, be realistic, he’s probs straight and even if he’s into guys he won’t wanna date me”

j.eremiah_: oh okay, yeah that’s cool  
j.eremiah_: can i copy your homework?

“He asked to copy my homework”  
“That’s better than nothing”  
“I know, but still”

gary.goldstein: i can’t send it rn, i’m at a friends house   
j.eremiah_: at 1am?   
gary.goldstein: yeah, i came over earlier and we just decided it’d be easier for me to just stay  
j.eremiah_: oh cool, we can like meet at school tmrw so i can copy the hw if you want  
gary.goldstein: yeah, when do you get to school?

“Oh my god, Linda”  
“What?” Linda asked excitedly   
“He says we can meet at school tomorrow-“  
“So when’s the wedding?” Linda joked  
“Oh shush, it’s just to copy my homework”  
“He could’ve just asked you to send a picture tomorrow but no, he wants to meet you!”  
“It’s not that exciting”

j.eremiah_: i get there pretty early, like 7:45  
gary.goldstein: we can meet at 8 in the library if you want?  
j.eremiah_: yeah sure  
j.eremiah_: i’m gonna go to sleep now, so i don’t pass out in the middle of class tmrw lmao  
gary.goldstein: oh okay, goodnight :)

“Oh god, I put a smiley face that was too much”  
“It’s fine, Gary. He’s not going to hate you forever over an emoticon”

j.eremiah_: see ya tmrw :)

“Gary, you are actually blushing”  
“He put a smiley face back”  
“See! It’s fine”  
“I’m really happy now” Gary smiled  
“Awh, see, I told you it was a good idea”  
“Thanks” Gary laughed slightly  
“You’re welcome” she smiled  
———  
2:32am  
“Are we actually going to sleep at any point?”  
“I mean, we’ll probably end up passing out at 6am then having to rush in the morning to get ready for school”  
“Yeah, oh shit, I haven’t got anything to sleep in”  
“Wait, I’ll look in my wardrobe”  
“Linda, I’m like a whole foot taller than you, I don’t think anything would fit”  
“Baggy hoodies are an aesthetic, so I have some of those”  
“Thanks, Linda”  
“It’s no problem” She threw him a grey hoodie and some pale pink sweatpants “The bottoms might be a bit short but I do have quite long legs for my height”  
Gary got changed into the pyjamas he was given in the bathroom, the sweatpants were slightly short for his legs but the hoodie fit perfectly. Linda changed in her bedroom into some grey sweatpants and a white tank top.  
———  
4:06am   
“Gary, what if I am a lesbian?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“I mean...people won’t accept it”  
“Do you accept it?”  
“Kind of”  
“Well that’s all that matter really, I accept you, you know”  
“Well you aren’t exactly straight either so it would be hypocritical if you didn’t”  
“That’s true”  
“I just...am scared”  
“Of what people will think?”  
“Mainly what my parents will think, they aren’t religious but just don’t like gay people for some reason”  
“Yeah”  
“Also uh..” she stopped, tears brimmed her eyes, she turned her face away and hoped Gary wouldn’t notice.  
“Linda, whats wrong?”  
“Just something that happened in middle school, it’s not important, don’t worry about it?”  
He lowered his voice “Did someone hurt you, Linda? Like physically”  
“No” she smiled that Gary cared so much then her smile dropped “It’s just...you know, um, Becky Barnes”  
“Yeah”  
“Basically, in middle school I thought I was bi, and I uh...thought I liked her...I tried to tell her I was bi but she...didn’t take it well”  
“Oh”  
“I really don’t wanna repeat what she said to me” Linda’s voice shook as she tried to hold back her tears  
“You don’t have to, Linda”  
“But...am I diseased, Gary?” the tears finally began to run down her face  
“No no of course not” he offered a hug, which she accepted immediately  
“Do I need help?”  
“Linda, you aren’t diseased, you don’t need help because you’re gay, it’s okay, it’s okay”  
“Sorry”  
“Is this what caused you to...not want to be...”  
“Yes” Linda said definitively, it was all so clear now, that incident in middle school had scarred her. It had ruined her.  
“Linda, if you ever need me, I’m always here for you, you know that right?”  
“Yeah, same goes for you, I’m here for you Gary”  
“Thank you”  
———  
6:30am  
A loud obnoxious alarm sounded from Linda’s phone, she reluctantly got up off of the couch. She shook Gary to wake him.  
“We have school, dumbass”  
“Oh fuck...wait, I have to meet Jeremiah oh shit”  
“Oh shit”  
Gary just wore the same clothes as yesterday, since they wore school uniform, no one would be able to tell. He made sure to wear extra body spray though.  
———  
“Linda hurry up!”  
“I’m trying to get my shoes on without breaking a nail!”  
Linda finally managed to get her shoes on, she and Gary rushed out the door with their school bags. They arrived at the bus stop earlier than they had anticipated so they sat down to catch their breath since they had been nearly running in fear of being late.  
“I didn’t even have time to do my makeup” Gary mumbled  
“Wait you wear makeup?”  
“Just a bit of concealer, my skin isn’t the best.”  
“I have a concealer in my bag that’ll probably match your-“  
“Linda! Shush!”  
“What?”  
“You can’t do my makeup in public” he had lowered his voice.  
“Why?”  
“‘Cause people will think I’m gay”  
“You kind of are”  
“But I don’t want them to know that”  
“Oh...sorry”  
“It’s fine, I’m just not ready to be out”  
“Same”  
“One day you’ll be able to be out, you know”  
“Hopefully”  
———  
(a/n: after this bit i get VERY carried away with the jeremiah and gary thing so if you don’t care about that just skip to the end of the chapter)  
Gary pulled how history book (with his homework in) out his locker and put it in his bag.  
“I’m so nervous” Gary said, his heart racing.  
“Just relax, it’ll be okay” Linda replied  
“Christ, I’m so tired”  
“Same, why did we stay up all night”  
“I don’t know”  
“It’s 8 o clock, go meet your future husband at the library”  
“I’m too tired to get annoyed with you for that”  
———  
Gary walked into the library, horrendously nervous but at the same time too exhausted to care about anything. He looked around for Jeremiah, seeing him at a small table around the corner or a bookshelf. He was on his phone, just scrolling but noticed Gary when he approached the table.  
“Hi, Goldstein”  
“Hi” Gary sat down awkwardly at the only seat that there was, the one right next to Jeremiah. He immediately began to get his history book out of his bag, setting it on the table in front of them. Gary’s tiredness was getting the better of him, he put his head in his hands for a second but all the while trying not to seem weird.  
“Damn you seem tired, were you up all night?” Jeremiah asked  
“Pretty much”  
“You like coffee?”  
“What? I didn’t quite hear”  
“Do you like coffee? You can have some of mine if you want, some caffeine to get you through the day” Jeremiah slid it towards Gary.  
“Thank you” Gary picked it up and took a sip, grateful for the offer. Jeremiah put his phone down on the table to pull his history book out of his bag. His phone was still open and Gary could see the subtle “love wins” quote he had as his phone screen. It wasn’t super obvious, just a black background with “love wins” in small white letters in the middle.  
“Nice home screen” Gary commented quietly, he would’ve thought Jeremiah didn’t hear because of how quietly he said it. But when Jeremiah stopped and just looked at Gary for a second, he knew he heard.  
“Thanks” Jeremiah replied, putting his bag on the table.  
“Sorry if I’m intruding but are you..?”  
“Yeah, you’re talking about being gay right?”  
“Yeah”  
“I’m not closeted really by the way, I just kinda don’t talk about it a lot at school ‘cause my parents don’t know”  
“Oh okay, sorry”  
“Don’t be, are you..?”  
Gary stopped, only Linda knew he wasn’t straight, but he wanted to tell Jeremiah just in case there was that tiny chance he could like him back “Kind of...I don’t really know yet, I’m probs bi or pan or something”  
“Oh cool”  
It took him a second to realise what he had just done “I don’t know why I just told you that”  
“What do you mean?”  
“I’m closeted”  
“Oh” there was a silence “Dude, honestly I get it, and don’t worry I won’t tell anyone ‘cause like I know what it’s like to be in your situation”  
“Thanks”   
“It is really cool to meet someone else LGBTQ at this school though, I thought I was the only one” Jeremiah took a sip of the coffee, which made Gary blush a little since he thought about the fact his lips touched something that Jeremiah’s lips had.  
“Honestly same, I didn’t know anyone at our school was out”  
“Yeah, but as I said, I don’t talk about it a lot”  
“Yeah”  
“Oh wait, shit I need to do the history, thanks for letting me copy by the way”  
“No problem”  
Gary took a small drink from the coffee again, he could feel a little bit of chapstick left on the cup. He studied the cup for a second, seeing he got it from Beanies. “Jerimiah” was scrawled in swirly handwriting across the side of the cup.   
“They spelt my name wrong as usual” Jeremiah commented, looking up from his work.  
“It’s not even that hard to spell”  
“Go on, try and spell it, Goldstein”  
“....E-“ Jeremiah laughed, putting his hand over his mouth so he wouldn’t get told off by the librarian “No no no, I can spell, it’s just really hard to when saying the letters out loud, I need to write it down, where should I write it?”  
“Here, just write it on my hand”  
Gary awkwardly took Jeremiah’s and and correctly spelt his name.  
“Fags!” because no one can be happy without Sam ruining it.  
“Fuck off Sam, no one asked you”  
“And no one asked for you queers to be in our school”  
“Sam, he’s not even gay, come at me all you want but leave him out of this”  
“Protecting your boyfriend are you?” Sam taunted  
“Gary, lets go” Jeremiah said  
“What?”  
“We need to go”   
They both quickly packed up both of their stuff and tried to leave the library, but Sam blocked their path. Jeremiah elbowed Sam out of the way and grabbed Gary’s hand to pull him out of the library.  
“Asshole” Jeremiah muttered   
“Sorry”  
“Don’t be, I was the one who said to write it on my hand”  
Gary realised he was still holding Jeremiah’s coffee “Do you want the rest of your coffee?”  
“Nah, you can have it, you need it, I swear you would’ve passed out on the table if I hadn’t given it to you”  
“Thank you” he laughed “I guess I should get going to class”  
“I’ll see you in history then” Jeremiah put his hand on the other boys shoulder “How are you so tall, it’s not fair” he laughed a little   
“I don’t know” Gary laughed with him “Oh fuck I have maths first, can’t wait to be harassed by Sam”  
“Do you want me to walk you?”  
“Yeah, that’d be nice thank you”  
“Let’s go then” they both smiled and made their way to class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> should i upload the part of gary and jeremiah as a separate one shot as well?


End file.
